Interview with Kazha at Abunai!

This year the Dutch convention Abunai! celebrated its 10th anniversary. The special guest to perform at the event was the Japanese band Kazha. During the opening of the convention they performed one song as a warm up for their concert on Saturday. Before their performance on Saturday the band sat down with JaME to answer some questions.

Could you please introduce yourselves to our readers?

Kazuha Oda: My name is Kazuha Oda, the singer of Kazha.
Hideki Matsushige: My name is Hideki Matsushige. I am the guitarist.
Zen Takamura: My name is Zen Takamura. I am the bassist.
Rod Arias: And I am Rod Arias. I am the touring drummer for this part of the tour.

What inspired you to become an artist? Were you brought up in a musical environment?

Kazuha: Actually, I started singing when I was a child, so I honestly don’t remember the reason. When I was growing up, I saw a lot of great artists. I also grew up in different countries, including Brazil and the United States. I think my life itself has influenced me until now.
Hideki: I can’t answer that yet because I think that I am still growing up. I am still learning to play the guitar, so I can’t tell you right now.
Kazuha: You mean that someday you will?
Hideki: Yes, someday.
Zen: When I was in middle school, I saw rock bands performing on television. I felt that was what I wanted to become. That is why I started playing music.
Rod: Like Kazuha, I have been around the stage ever since I was five years old. I began playing the drums when I was thirteen. I just loved the whole creation process and I am still doing it today.

The band was formed in 2008 in Los Angeles. How did the members meet and form Kazha?

Kazuha: We actually met while we were in another band. We all used to be in a metal band before this, so we were band mates from back then. I think it’s been like 5 or 6 years now. We then moved to the US. At that time we got the record deal in Los Angeles. That is the reason why we were there. We discovered something new of our own so we decided to create a new band.

Your music is described as a fusion of cultures and musical viewpoints that create your sound. Is the fusion of cultures and musical viewpoints a result of growing up in different cultures and countries? How has travelling and performing around the world influenced your music?

Kazuha: We actually grew up in different parts of Japan. Even though Japan is a small country, the differences in cultures are still evident. Hideki is from the southern part of Japan and I’m from around Tokyo. Zen comes from the northern part of Japan. We all grew up in different places—especially me. I grew up in other countries. Naturally, this has influenced our music. Everyone comes from a different environment and has led different lives, but of course, all people are different.
Hideki I actually grew up in the west of Japan (laughs).
Kazuha: Yes, of course that’s right. You are from the west (laughs).

Your lyrics are in both English and Japanese. Have you ever experienced a language barrier?

Kazuha: I still experience some difficulties with English because I am still learning. Of course, for the other members it’s hard as well, but we are all still learning. When I’m writing lyrics I don’t see any differences between Japanese and English—I just write songs based on how I feel. I don’t really write complicated lyrics. Even in Japanese, I don’t want to use difficult words. This is because I want people to understand what I am saying while I am singing. I feel it’s better to use simple words so people can hear and feel what I am saying easily. For me, writing in English and Japanese is the same. While writing lyrics I don’t really see any barriers.

How do you decide which part of your lyrics to write in English and what to write in Japanese?

Kazuha: I never thought about that (laughs). It comes naturally. Japanese and English have different intonations—when the pitch rises or falls. For example, in English when you say ‘how are you?’, you raise the pitch when you say ‘are’, but you don’t raise the pitch when you say ‘how’. I try to figure out what works better in English or in Japanese. I mostly write the melody and lyrics at the same time. Then it just comes out naturally.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Hideki: Inspiration comes naturally for me. I just sit down and write. That’s it.
Zen: It’s the same for me.
Kazuha: I usually try to write whatever comes out, but sometimes I can’t write because I don’t feel creative. Then I just walk around or take some time to see a movie or I listen to other artists’ music. I get my inspirations mainly from movies. There are a lot of movies I’m interested in. I specifically like human dramas a lot.

Yesterday you performed a song during the opening of the Abunai! convention. What was your first impression of the Dutch audience?

Zen: They seemed very quiet at first, but when we were finished they applauded for us a lot. That was great.
Hideki: I got the feeling everyone was really listening to our music.
Kazuha: It was close to performing for a Japanese audience.
Hideki: Yes, that’s right.
Kazuha: We really got the feeling they were listening to us. In America, it’s great if they are enjoying your performance, but sometimes you wonder if they are really listening in all their excitement.
Hideki: All of the people in the Netherlands are quite tall, aren’t they (laughs).
Kazuha: Even the women are tall (laughs).
Hideki: But everyone was sitting down, so I couldn’t really tell (laughs).

You have performed at a lot of anime conventions. What do you like most about performing at conventions? Do you feel there are any differences between performing at a convention and a regular concert?

Hideki: You can see a lot of Japanese things at a convention, and because of that I feel a sense of closeness. At a convention you will find Japanese anime, posters and cosplay. I feel close to the people at a convention. I feel a certain pride in Japanese culture.
Kazuha: When I was a child I also wanted to be a voice actress. I really liked anime quite a lot. I can really enjoy just watching people do cosplay.
Zen: When you are playing at a live house or club there are no cosplayers. It’s something you don’t see normally. It’s different from normal and that’s what makes it fun.

Do you enjoy watching anime and reading manga yourselves, and do you have any personal favourites?

Zen: I like Bleach.
Hideki: I don’t watch anime. I used to read manga, when I was young. I read Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X). That’s my favourite manga.
Kazuha: My favourite is My melody.

How do you like the Abunai! convention so far? How does it differ from the American conventions you have visited and performed at?

Kazuha: I think a lot of things are similar, but I can really tell the culture is totally different from America’s.
Hideki: The conventions are quite similar, but I think the quality is quite high here. At an American convention there are cosplayers who use cardboard for their costumes. They use cardboard and draw on it to make a Gundam suit, for instance, and put it together with tape. In the Netherlands you won’t see people doing that a lot.
Kazuha: Yes, that’s right. The quality here is quite high. Japan is also amazing.

Is this the first time you’ve visited the Netherlands?

Kazuha: Yes, but I have been to Europe before. I have been to Great Britain, Greece and Spain.
Hideki: You’ve got a lot of money (laughs).
Kazuha: No, no, no, that is not the case (laughs), but it’s the first time I have visited the Netherlands.

What’s your first impression of the Netherlands? Did you have the chance to do some sightseeing?

Hideki: It’s beautiful!
Kazuha: I feel it’s a little similar to Japan. We haven’t had the opportunity to go sightseeing. We don’t have the time to do so.

If you would have the time, what would you like to see?

Kazuha: I would want to see things like the windmills and tulips. I would like to visit places with a typical Dutch atmosphere.
Hideki: Dutch martial artists are very famous in Japan. I would like to attend a match.

On your Facebook page Hideki made an announcement about a new song. Could you tell us more about it?

Kazuha: Yes, you did, didn’t you….
Hideki: Yes, that’s right. We are all working on the new track and are recording it. During the arrangement of a song, I often give it a lot of thought if everything is how I want it to be. I think it over many times, which eventually leads to the delay of the release of the song (laughs).
Kazuha: We hope to release a new album around the end of the year. This song will be released as a sort of fan service to our fans prior to that.
Hideki: We want to release material we are all content with. Until the song is actually released we are still working on it.

What would you still like as a challenge in the future?

Kazuha: A Europe tour!
Hideki: My challenge right now, I feel like I’m in the middle of it, is to grow more as a guitarist. I want to grow as a musician. I also want to do a tour in Europe. There are still many places we haven’t visited yet. Even in America and Japan, there are still places where we haven’t been, and now that we have the internet I would like to reach more people around the world with our music.
Zen: I would like to become better at English. I have to practice English (laughs).

Would you like to share a final message with our readers?

Kazuha: It may always sound like the same message, saying ‘We will do our best, so please support us’ and ‘thank you’. There are still people out there who haven’t heard of us, so if it’s possible, it would be great if people would introduce us to their friends. I would like for our music to be heard by as many people as possible. We will continue to do our best.
Hideki: So, if we were to sum it up: ‘Love, peace’
Everyone: (laughs)


JaME would like to thank the members of Kazha and the Abunai! staff for making this interview possible.